Into the Darkness
by angelsinstead
Summary: The darkness has finally come for Todd.  This story has been told from Todd's POV.   It is AU.   Warning: Abuse and dark subject matter.


Author's Note: This story is based off the hit soap One Life to Live, yet the "history" has been changed somewhat to suit the purposes of this story. I'd like to note that I do not own ABC's One Life to Live or the characters and I will NOT be receiving any payment whatsoever for writing this story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.

This story has been told from Todd's POV. It is AU. Warning: Abuse and dark subject matter.

I couldn't believe she had left me again, although I knew I didn't deserve her. I had hurt her one too many times. She didn't deserve my anger and my violent nature. She deserved my love and tenderness, and as much as I longed to give her what she needed, I had moments when darkness and rage would consume me. As much as I wanted to blame her for my fallacies, it was me who could not control the demon that lurked within me.

I watched her from afar, knowing that once she was alone, I was going to kidnap her. I was going to take her somewhere secluded and make her see it MY way. She was mine. She belonged to me. She was going to stay with me forever. I was never letting her go.

As night fell, he left, and she was alone in the house. I snuck in through a window, clutching a gun in my hand. She was NOT escaping me.

I made my way through the house until I found her bedroom. She lay there sleeping on the bed, so beautiful and unsuspecting. She was mine, not his. I must claim her again.

When she woke up, I had the barrel of the gun pressed against her slender throat. "Hello, Marty," I chuckled when her frightened blue eyes popped open. "I'm here for you..."

"No! No, Todd!" she cried out as she began to struggle and panic.

I grabbed her wrists in my steely grip, squeezing them with all my power. "You're coming with me, Marty. There's a great deal we need to talk about, you and me!"

I forced her out of the bed as my eyes moved over her luscious form in nothing more than a pale silk nightie. I wanted her, and she was mine. He'd never have her. He was a walking dead man. As soon as I got my hands on him, I'd destroy him.

"Come on, Marty. My car is parked outside and we are going for a ride."

"I'm not going with you!" she shouted as she tried to slap me. Again I grabbed her wrists before she could strike me and I squeezed them so tightly I could feel the delicate bones about to pop.

"Let me go!" she sobbed, but I didn't listen. I drug her out of the house and out to my car. I threw her in the backseat and jumped in the vehicle. As I drove away, she scrambled into a sitting position. The next thing I knew, I felt her hands around my throat as she tried to strangle all the breath from me.

"Stop it!" I yelled as I tried to keep control of the car. I reached around and backhanded her, stopping her from killing us both. The sound of my hand striking her flesh echoed in my brain. She was crying in pain, clutching her bruised cheek. It wasn't the first time I had put bruises on her and probably not the last.

Her sobbing continued like a seering pain in my soul. I always hurt her... in the end, and I hated myself for it. Tonight I was going to set it all right. It was a solemn promise I had made to myself.

We arrived at our destination. After parking the car, I reached into the backseat. I caught hold of the delicate fabric of her nightie, wrenching her up into my arms. For a moment I just held her, cherishing the sensation of her soft skin pressed against mine. I did love her... but my love was dark and stormy. It bordered on the edge of hate and violence. And tonight, I would end it all. She'd never leave me again.

"Don't do this, Todd," she begged as if she knew my intentions. "Please don't do THIS."

"I'm sorry, babe," I said as I lifted her up in my arms and carried her off into the night. "I love you... and I have to keep you with me."

"No," she sobbed quiety when she realized we had arrived at our home. I carried her inside and lay her down gently upon our bed. I placed my hand on the side of her cheek, examining the bruise I had made upon her skin. I whispered words of apology as I pressed my lips against hers in a kiss. I could taste her tears as I held her in my arms.

At first she had responded to my kiss, but then she fought me, trying to push me away. "I can't do this, Todd. I can NEVER be with you again. I realize now that the love and hate between us is far too strong and it's going to kill us both. As much as it hurts me to be apart from you, I HAVE to say good bye to you. I can't go through the pain and torment another moment."

"I won't LET you leave me. I won't let HIM have you," I swore.

"I'm not with him in THAT way," she insisted. "He's only a friend. He's looking out for me until I can get a place of my own."

"I saw him TOUCH you... I saw him KISS you," I growled as the rage invaded me again full-force.

"He only kissed my cheek. Please Todd... you scare me when you are like this..."

"Do you love him? Have you been fucking him?" I demanded.

"No, I do not love him! I only love you!" she cried out as tears streaked her pale face. "But I can't be with you. You have far too many issues! As happy as I am with you, it's hell. You're always jealous. You have a dark-side in which I despise! I can't do this anymore..."

"Why not, Marty? Is it because you want to be in his bed?"

"No! I can't give myself to him when I carry YOUR child!"

"What did you say?" I cried out, feeling breathless. The breath had been knocked from my lungs when I heard her words.

"It's true. I am carrying your baby... so that's why I left. I couldn't stay with you... not like this. I couldn't bring out child into this horrible situation," she said with a sob. "It's over, Todd. You have to let me go."

I stared down at my hands. My hands which had repeatedly struck her. There was so much destruction in my hands. Maybe I WAS a monster... but monsters needed love, too. She had given me her love... and we had shared something beautiful, but I had destoyed it all. Over and over again I had hurt her.

I had brought her here to end it all. I was going to set fire to this house, trapping us both inside. We'd be together forever in our own infernal hell, but now I just couldn't do it. The announcement she made that she was having my child paralyzed me. From the sweetness of our love, we'd created a baby. The woman I loved and our child had been all I ever wanted, but I had crushed it all.

Knowing what I had to do, I was trembling. I pulled her to me and kissed her again. A soft, tender kiss of good bye. "Marty, I'm sorry. I do love you," I said as tears streamed from my eyes. My love for her wasn't strong enough to hold the darkness at bay. It crept into the beauty of our paradise, reaching for me. Tonight I wouldn't fight it. I would go into the darkness forevermore. And I'd set her and the baby free.

Before she could stop me, I stepped outside into the darkness which awaited me like a friend. I took the gun and pressed it against my chest. For a moment there was the only the sound of my steady heart beat... then I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.


End file.
